Wim Wenders (born 1945) came to international prominence as one of the pioneers of the New German Cinema in the 1970’s and is considered to be one of the most important figures in contemporary German film. In addition to his many prize-winning feature films, his work as a scriptwriter, director, producer, photographer and author also encompasses an abundance of innovative documentary films, international photo exhibitions and numerous monographs, film books and prose collections. He lives and works in Berlin, together with his wife Donata Wenders.
Wim Wenders studied medicine and philosophy before moving to Paris in 1966 to study painting. Though ostensibly pursuing an apprenticeship in the studio of the graphic designer and engraver Johnny Friedlaender, he spent his afternoons and evenings in the Cinématèque Francaise. This “crash course in the history of film” would become the most important stage in his education, as Wenders soon began to think of film as an “extension of painting by other means”.
His career as a filmmaker began in 1967 when Wenders enrolled at the newly founded University of Television and Film Munich (HFF Munich). Parallel to his studies at the HFF, he also worked as a film critic from 1967 to 1970. At this point in time he had already directed various short films. Upon graduating from the academy in 1971, he founded, together with fifteen other directors and authors, the Filmverlag der Autoren, a film distribution company for German auteur films, which organized the production, rights administration and distribution of their own independent films.
After completing his debut feature out of film school THE GOALIE’S ANXIETY AT THE PENALTY KICK (1971) Wenders turned to shooting his road movie trilogy, ALICE IN THE CITIES (1973), WRONG MOVE (1974) and KINGS OF THE ROAD (1975), in which the protagonists try to come to terms with their rootlessness in post-war Germany among other things. His international breakthrough came with THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977). Since then Wenders has continued to work both in Europe and the USA as well as in Latin America and Asia and has been honored with countless awards at festivals around the world, including: the Golden Palm and the British Film Academy Award for PARIS, TEXAS (1984); the Director’s Prize in Cannes for WINGS OF DESIRE (1987); the Golden Lion in Venice for THE STATE OF THINGS (1982); and the Silver Bear for THE MILLION DOLLAR HOTEL (2000) at the Berlin International Film Festival. His documentary films BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (1999), PINA (2011), and THE SALT OF THE EARTH (2014) have all been nominated for an Oscar.
During the 2015 edition of the Berlin International Film Festival, Wenders will be presented with the Honorary Golden Bear for his lifetime achivement. His most recent feature film EVERY THING WILL BE FINE will be shown in the official program of the Berlinale out of competition.
